


Guessing Game

by hallelujah99



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Coming Out, Fluff, M/M, Multi, Post-Canon, T. J. Kippen & Amber Are Siblings, platonic tarty, theres only one bed (platonic), trans!marty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-30 08:56:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20094646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hallelujah99/pseuds/hallelujah99
Summary: TJ is happy in his newfound romance with Cyrus, and not so happy he has to spend the weekend hours away at a basketball tournament, sharing a room with some kid named Marty who he hardly knows. He's especially not too happy when Marty takes it upon himself to guess who exactly TJ is interested in.





	Guessing Game

To say the past week has been the best of TJ's life would be putting it mildly. Ever since the party at Andi's grandmother's house, TJ has felt like he's floating. All night, he could feel traces of the nerves he felt when he'd reached for Cyrus's hand in some moment of insane courage. Amber had even called him out for smiling like a dork, but he couldn't be bothered to care. That night, and every night afterward, ended with TJ Facetiming Cyrus until they couldn't keep their eyes open any longer. Somehow, the lack of sleep didn't make TJ too tired, he was happy to go to school every day and see his…to see Cyrus.

Nothing was defined yet. He knew Cyrus liked him, and he knew Cyrus knew he felt the same way. He wanted him as a boyfriend, he absolutely did, but at the same time, he didn't feel ready to come out to a lot of people just yet. It didn't seem to bother Cyrus, so, he figured that for the time being, it was okay to leave their relationship as it was, because as it was, was terrific. Every phone call, every text, every stolen hug, even every smile across the school hallway made TJ feel so incredible inside. 

Cyrus had told Buffy, he knew that; he'd agreed to it and trusted that she wouldn't tell anyone else. TJ hadn't told anyone yet. It wasn't that he was ashamed, not at all, he was just still figuring himself out. He liked a boy, he really really liked a boy, but what did that mean? He needed time to figure that out, and Cyrus understood that. 

He wished they could have had a sleepover the following weekend after the party, but he had to go to the state basketball tournament several hours away that weekend. It was funny, he'd been looking forward to it for so long, but now it felt like a burden, as it meant he couldn't see Cyrus. 

TJ had agreed to sit with his friend, Aaron, on the long ride to the hotel the night before the basketball game and although Aaron was a good guy deep down, he reminded TJ of why coming out was going to be so hard. Aaron was pure hetero and thought of little besides getting girls (though he was never terribly successful).

So when Aaron had plopped down next to him on the bus and suggestively asked who he was texting, TJ knew he was in for a long ride. 

"Is it Kira?" he asked, leaning over to look at TJ's phone. "No," TJ replied, tilting the phone out of his view. "Ooooh what kinda stuff is she sending you that you gotta hide it?" Aaron asked. "That's not it." TJ had responded. "Oh, but you wish it was! You wish it was!" Aaron replied, elbowing TJ's ribs. 

"What is it then, huh?" Aaron continued to prod him. Just then, TJ's phone pinged with another message from Cyrus, and when TJ moved to look at it, Aaron must have gotten a glimpse of the screen. "Muffin?! She's in your phone as muffin?" TJ rolled his eyes, nothing gets through Aaron's thick skull. "It's not Kira, I don't like Kira, even as a friend. And I'm done talking to you about this."

Aaron gave up on that front, instead, relaying to TJ what exactly he finds most attractive about every girl he knows. TJ rolled his eyes and tuned him out. He returned his focus back to the conversation to hear Aaron say, "No one is hotter than Amber, though." Finally, a reason to openly express his disgust with the conversation. "Stop it, that's my fucking sister." "Oh shit, dude, I totally forgot! You guys are so weird and quiet about it." Aaron laughed, and TJ rolled his eyes, but luckily, Aaron started talking about basketball, and TJ's heart started to calm down enough to engage him in the conversation for the rest of the bus ride.

After a practice in the athletic complex, where the tournament was being held, they had a pizza party in the hotel hallway with a different team. After all of that, it was time to head to bed. 

TJ was paired to share a room with Marty, who just had one of those faces you forget. He had been holding out hope that they might have a room with double beds, but he had no such luck. The small hotel room had only one queen-sized bed, and not even a couch one could sleep on. TJ braced himself as he exited the bathroom to find Marty on one side of the bed, scrolling through his phone. 

"I can take the floor." TJ offered. He really didn't want to, he was fairly certain it would hurt his back and mess up his game the next day. But he was so terrified to get in that bed beside Marty. Logically, he knew that it was totally expected of him, and that Marty had left one side wide open figuring he'd take it, but he was still gripped by the fear that somehow, if he lowered himself into that bed, next to a boy, Marty would immediately put together that TJ was gay. TJ almost wanted to grab his phone and google 'how to get into bed with another guy straightest way possible.' It was all so ridiculous, and he knew that, especially because he had no attraction to Marty whatsoever, but, the fear persisted nonetheless. 

"Oh come on, it's 2019, we can share a bed," Marty replied, unfazed and not even bothering to look up from his phone. TJ nodded, afraid that any more avoidance of sharing the bed would also raise red flags. He plugged in his phone charger, gently pulled the covers back, and slowly slipped into the bed, as close to the edge of the mattress as possible. He began texting Cyrus and scrolling through Instagram, settling into the situation, when a loud and unidentifiable clamoring came from the next room over, followed by a loud laugh. 

"That's gotta be Aaron, right?" Marty said. "Yeah. Good guy, but he can be so annoying." TJ replied. "Tell me about it. I swear I checked my phone for two minutes during practice today and he came after me asking who I'm texting, do I have a girlfriend, what is she sending me, like dude, back off." "Bro, I had deadass like the same thing on the bus today. Like he wouldn't let it go." 

TJ heard Marty lock his phone and set it down, so he followed suit. They both laid on their backs as they continued their conversation. "He can just be so rude. Like, maybe I don't wanna talk about what's going on in that department right now. That shit's kinda private" TJ wasn't sure what Marty was getting at, but his curiosity was certainly piqued. "Yeah, I get that. Like I actually seriously get that right now." TJ couldn't believe how much he was relating to this kid who he barely knew an hour ago. 

"It's just really annoying because I've liked her for so long, but I gotta figure a few things out before I can make anything official and it just …it's difficult. I'm happy because we're closer to being together than we were before, but we're not actually there just yet." TJ hadn't missed the use of the female pronoun, but everything else was completely relatable to him at that moment. "Dude, I totally get what you mean. I can't even tell you how long I had this crush and now we're texting every single night, facetiming, everything, but I still don't know exactly where we stand." 

Marty chuckled "I'm right there with you; like we have, literally, been texting each other so much." He sighs. "She's been so patient with me about everything though, which is awesome…and so unexpected for Buffy." 

"Oh, it's Buffy?!" TJ was really shocked for a second, then he sort of remembered he'd seen them together at the party (His mind had been elsewhere, okay?!). "That's really awesome, man, she's the best." He said, genuinely meaning it. Buffy had forgiven him for a lot of idiotic shit he'd said, kept her mouth shut when she detected his crush on Cyrus and was actually a really fantastic friend all around. 

"She is." Marty echoed the sentiment. TJ could hear the smile on Marty's face as he spoke. "So what's the hang-up?" TJ asked. 

"Um, no, I'm not gonna tell you that," Marty said quickly. "How about you tell me who you have your little situation with?" "No, that's not fair!" TJ countered. He wasn't as panicked as he could have been, though. He sensed Marty was a good guy, at the very least, he trusted Buffy wouldn't have a thing with a major homophobe. 

"Come on, you know mine! Wait, is it Kira?"   
"No, god no, I don't even like her as a friend."  
"Is it Andi?"  
"Ha, no, not at all."

"I'm gonna get it!" Marty proclaimed confidently. 

"Fine, you can try to guess. You're never gonna get it, though." TJ replied. "Alright, is it Summer?" "No." "Tasha?" "No. You're not going to get it!" Marty proceeded to go through an extensive list of just about every girl at the school, it had clearly become a game to him, and he was desperate to win. TJ humored him, it seemed Marty had too much of a one-track mind to consider that his crush might not be a girl (or even, apparently, that it could be someone from another school). 

"Okay, is it….is it…..Jessica Cortez?" "You already said her, no, it's not." Marty sighed, it seemed he was close to giving up. "Do you promise I haven't guessed right yet? At any point?" "Nope, you're not going to get it." 

"Wait. Wait wait wait." He could hear Marty seemed to be coming to some sort of small epiphany. He held his breath, and sure enough, Marty said: "Is it a guy?" TJ froze. "It's totally fine if it is. Like I'd be 100% cool with that, you don't even know." Marty said quickly. TJ was stuck, terrified, and unsure of what to say. But his silence spoke volumes, and he knew it.

"You can have five guesses," TJ said softly. It was the second-closest thing to coming out he'd ever done. And it was while sharing a bed with a straight boy. How did he end up in this situation?!

"Okay. Um, Jonah?" TJ snorted, "No." Jonah Beck? Was this guy serious?! 

Marty gasped loudly beside him, so much so that TJ involuntarily turned to look in his direction, and the two made their first eye contact of the night as Marty said, "It's not Cyrus, is it?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" 

"Well, is it?" 

TJ, so thrown off by Marty's phrasing that he wasn't thinking clearly, responded, "Yes, but why'd you say it like that?" 

"I don't know, honestly. I guess it's just funny since he's Buffy's best friend. But that's great dude, you two would be such a cute couple." It warmed TJ a little bit to hear that, but mostly he was so on edge that he was sharing a bed with a straight guy who now knew that he liked guys. Marty was cool about it, but what if that's not how he really felt? 

The nerves started bubbling up, and like a switch, TJ went from clammed up to word vomiting. "Yeah, I mean I've liked him since forever but I don't really have any idea where we stand, and its like, I don't have a problem with anything, like, gay, bi, transgender, pansexual, whatever is totally cool with me, but I just don't know if I'm ready for that label and like you're literally the first person I've talked to about this and it's so stressful and please, please do not tell anyone. Buffy knows so you can tell her but please, do not tell anyone else."

"Dude, I won't, okay? I don't out people, never." TJ nodded, even though he and Marty were both just looking straight up at the ceiling. He seemed to get it. "But, thank you for telling me, and since you did, I kinda also have something I don't usually tell people either, and it's the reason I'm in this weird place with Buffy…" TJ could tell Marty wanted him to ask what it was, that he didn't want to just give up the information. "What is it, dude?" He asked

"Ummm. So. You know how you just said you're cool with people who are gay, bi, transgender, or pansexual?" "Yeah." "I' m…the third one." 

It took TJ a few seconds. "You're transgender?" 

He heard Marty take a deep breath. "Yes. I'm transgender." He whispered. "Please don't tell anyone. Even Cyrus. I still gotta tell Buffy."

"I won't, I promise." TJ was still reeling in this new information. He'd never really met a trans person before, at least, not that he was aware of. 

"Okay I'm sorry, but I have a really dumb question." He said. Marty groaned, "People usually do, it's okay though. What is it?"

"Are you like…I mean did you…Have you like…I guess I'm just not sure what you mean." 

"You don't know what transgender means?"

TJ could feel himself growing red. "No, I know what it means, I just...like do you want to be a girl, or you were a girl before?" TJ cringed, he knew he didn't phrase it correctly, but he didn't know how else to phrase his question.

Marty laughed "I pass that well, then? Okay, so I'm what's called FtM-female to male. So I was assigned female at birth and was forced to dress in girl clothes, and I had a girl's name and stuff, but I was always a boy. Anyway, super long story short, my parents finally accepted that and let me switch schools and transition when I started middle school."

TJ nodded, taking it all in. It didn't really faze him too much, not really. He was just getting to know Marty, and this was just another thing about him. Not to mention, he felt it was important to be his ally, as a fellow member of the LGBTQ+ community (because, yes, deep down, TJ knew that he was a member, somewhere in the alphabet soup of the acronym). 

"Well, I'm glad you told me. And for what it's worth, Buffy is a super accepting person I think you'll be alright if or when you decide to tell her." TJ told him.

"Thanks. I'm glad I told you, too. And I'm glad you told me about you and Cyrus." 

"Me too."

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: this is based on a real experience of mine, sharing a bed with a straight acquaintance, having them trying to figure out who I liked/had a thing with, and even including the line "Its not (correct name), is it?!" I only wish I could describe the tone of voice she said that line in, I really do. 
> 
> ANYWAY, thanks so much to my awesome beta, opatrickr, and remember kudos and comments make my day!


End file.
